I'm planning to buy my first boat this summer. I've read a handful of books with a lot of advice on what to do, including getting a buyer's broker.

The type of boat I want to buy will be a 25'-30' daysailer / weekender costing not more than $3k. For a purchase in this price range, is it still advisable to enlist the help of a buyer's broker? Do you expect any respectable buyer's broker would engage in a deal with such a low selling price?

I think most brokers charge 10% commission with a minimum of $500. So a $3000 boat will have a commission of $500 split between 2 brokers for $250 each. I've met brokers who wouldn't walk down the dock for $250.

For the money you are looking to spend, I think Bljones is right, you going to be doing your own tire kicking and dealing directly with sellers - no brokers involved.

Not sure this will be any encouragement or not but I found and bought my first larger boat 27' for 3k this year and have probably spent about 100 hrs on it already this summer, every weekend we get a chance to spend the night on we do. The boat was 42 years old and I figured it would need some work which it did, we have already put another 3k into fixing things like new cushions, new outboard and we'll probably spend 3k next year on it fixing more, but from the first day we got it we have been able to sail on it and I think that was more important than anything. I see so many people buy a cheap boat and then spend years fixing it up as a project boat and never enjoy the actual sailing but maybe thats what they like. If my boat sunk tomorrow I would still feel like we already got our moneys worth. Heck one of our first sails tracked over 17 miles in 3 hrs and was so much fun, that alone was almost worth it but waking up to the sun in a cove, gunkholed up with no other boats anywhere near you is the best ever.

My suggestion is get the prior owner to take you out for a sail and let you try it out, if everything works then you are good to enjoy it till it breaks, but others probably want everything to be perfect in which case I doubt you are going to find it in a 3k boat. Besides the 3k is a fraction of the ownership, consider 2k annually for dock fees. $100-$200 for food and drink entertaining every couple of weekends might add another 2k in a summer and don't even think about the $200 - $500 trips to West Marine just buying stuff nick nacks like a new power cable, a poker, a wrench, a hat that the wind already took, boat shoes. It's easy to spend money on a boat.

Why do you need a broker for a $3k boat? If you are looking for reassurance that it's not a dog, a surveyor is what you're looking for. Even an insurance survey (vs purchase survey) is better than nothing.

Heck, people buy much more expensive cars without any reassurance. And a car is far more dangerous than a sailboat.

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